The State Transportation Board voted Thursday to fire Commissioner Gena Evans, citing a need for change at the top.

The 9-3 vote is viewed by observers at the Capitol as the first salvo in a war for control of the Department of Transportation being waged between the board and Gov. Sonny Perdue, who wasted no time in condemning the action.

The governor, who has a close personal relationship with Evans and her husband, former transportation board chairman Mike Evans, called her “a competent commissioner.”

He accused the board of choosing “personal vendettas and politics rather than delivering value to citizens in transportation.” Perdue hand-picked Evans for the $175,000-a-year DOT position in October 2007.

But Steve Farrow, who represents the 9th District on the board, said the governor wasn’t at Thursday’s meeting and didn’t hear the deliberations, which he said centered on a loss of confidence in Gena Evans.

“Had (Perdue) sat in our two-hour session, he would have know that there was a lot of thoughtful discussion that went on,” Farrow said. “We didn’t look at politics, but a lot of other factors as well.”

Farrow was among the nine who voted to fire the commissioner.

Perdue’s criticism was echoed strongly by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, R-Chestnut Mountain, on Thursday in a hastily called news conference.

“Every Georgian in this state should be outraged by what took place today,” Cagle said, calling it the “last opportunity they would have.”

Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson have signed off on a bill that would strip the board of its power and replace it with an authority appointed by the two of them and the governor.

Presently, transportation board members are elected from congressional districts by legislators from those districts. It is the legislature’s only political appointment and until now, has been an important one.

The board named department chief engineer Gerald Ross interim commissioner and said it will soon begin a national search for a replacement.

Evans, who did not attend the board meeting, did not immediately respond to a voicemail The Associated Press left with her husband Thursday evening.

Members of a transportation board committee declined in November to take action against Gena Evans, who had been accused of sending racy e-mails on state computers while working for other agencies.

“We just thought it was time to move the board forward,” said board member Johnny Floyd.

State Rep. Carl Rogers, R-Gainesville, said he predicted early on that Evans would cause problems.

“The governor and the lieutenant governor wanted her in there (as commissioner),” Rogers said. “I felt from what I knew about her that she would disrupt the department and things would not go as smoothly. There have been issues there and we all recognize issues, but I think what she was doing was leaving out the board and making her own decisions. I see her as that type of person.”
Rogers is a member of the House Transportation Committee.

But board chairman Bill Kuhlke insisted the board’s vote was not based on personal disputes, but a measured review of Evans’ abilities. The announcement followed a lengthy, closed-door meeting he said was dominated by discussion of how the department would go forward.

The shake up comes as the first portions of an anticipated $6 billion in federal stimulus money arrives in Georgia. Some of the money is expected to favor “shovel-ready” projects, potentially including efforts to relieve notorious traffic along Atlanta roadways.

Board members were confident Thursday the shift would not delay efforts to dole out money at the department, which has been criticized for moving slowly on projects.

“Gerald Ross obviously is the one who was going to be heading that up,” said board member Steve Farrow, who voted in favor of removing Evans. “I don’t think we’ll miss a beat.”

Critics accused Evans last fall of using state computers to send sexual e-mails while working for two other state agencies.

In September, Evans married former board chairman Mike Evans in an Alabama ceremony in which Perdue was an officiant. Mike Evans had resigned from the board in April to pursue what he described then as a budding romance with her. Farrow filled his seat.

Board leaders later reprimanded Gena Evans for failing to report her romantic relationship with Mike Evans sooner. DOT policy bans intimate relationships in the direct chain of command. The board oversees the commissioner.

Evans has countered that she wrote the e-mails when she was a single adult woman and that people should consider the source of the complaint.

Last fall, Kuhlke said a committee had a “thorough discussion” of allegations and chose instead to focus on Evans’ performance.

But Thursday, Farrow said board members acted after considering ongoing criticism of Evans’ abilities.

“We needed to send a message that we as a board are making a change in direction,” he said.

Ross is the first black man to hold the department’s top position.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.